Comparing Earthworms and Red Wigglers

When I share with people that I have worms (vermiculture) in my storage bin at the Condo - I often get excited questioning such as:
- What will I do with them? Won't they multiply?
- Why did I decide to do worms?
- When will I take some to the garden?

My short answers are the worms in the storage bin are not suited for hot or cold temps, thus they will likely not go to the garden, they are multiplying (I now see little wigglers), and I am doing worms to manage food waste, and to get the castings/castings for the garden.

The more expansive explanation of worms and differences in worms is:


"Earthworm" is a generic term that refers to any annelid (segmented worm) that burrows into soil and is a member of the class Oligochaeta. The ‘Red Wiggler’ is a type of earthworm that is used in compost bins or as bait for fish. Both produce organic fertilizers. If you want to start a worm composting system in your home, it would be more advisable for you to use red wiggler worms instead of burrowing earthworms.


Worms in the soil
Burrowing earthworms eliminate the dead organic material found on the surface of the soil and enrich the topsoil in the process. Worms take the highly improved residue from the top and move it underground. Here, at the roots of plants, both the health of the soil and plant health are improved, and in the process, earthworms loosen heavy soils (improving aeration), increase water retention and enhance the soil's fertility.

Red wigglers on the other hand are more aggressive when compared to earthworms. A difference is red wigglers remain near the surface of the soil while the earthworms reside at the deeper levels of the soil.

Red wigglers are often found in decomposing animal manure, rotting leaf moulds and other organic materials found on top of the soil. Red wiggler worms are considered more aggressive than burrowing earthworms because they accelerate the natural composting process by consuming large chunks of organic matter and spreading their wastes (or red wriggler castings) as organic fertilizers. Castings from red wigglers are especially good for plants as they provide nutrients, minerals, plant hormones and enzymes for the plants to absorb. Castings also improve microbial activity in the soil for additional plant benefits.

Worms Making Music!

Sunny Jim, Dirty Dirt, Bygalooga and Flower were spotted in the corner of the worm home – making a medley of sounds – a ruckus of sorts, or on closer examination, I believe they were making music.

Hard for worms to make music you think? That was my early thinking as well, but seeing was believing.




Additional research confirms
Journal of the UCL Nurrish Lab Cell Biology Unit / Welcome Trust Project
Music from the Worm Farm: Neurobiology meets new music

Can worm brains tell us something about our own? Can music be inspired by worm research ...

E-Flint and Lightning growing family

I unzipped the top of the worm home, and gently peeled back the shredded paper. Another gentle peel back of sweet smelling composting matter, and I spotted E-Flint and Lightning.

They were joined together with their heads facing in opposite directions.

Lucky for me, I found an illustration on YouTube:

Meet Walter - one of the wormpet(s)

Walter is a bit shy - notice the light-colored wide thick band forming around the middle - the clitellum. The clitellum will someday help to form cocoons. Baby worms will hatch from the cocoons and Walter will be growing family.

WALTER

A baby worm (smaller than a grain of rice) being hatched from a cocoon.

Walter also has five (5) hearts, to pump blood through his/her body and keep his/her temperature down on warm days. When worms dig under ground, the hearts keep them alive and help the blood go to the rest of the body!

Worm pets have names

Thanks to Seb and his father Doug, we now have a wonderful selection of unique, thoughtful, and inspirational names for the worm pets. As this dynamic duo noted:

"Much depends on the demeanor of each individual worm. Lithe or lethargic? Silly, or serious? Cheery or droll?"

The names (to be assigned over the next few days) are:

1. Walter
2. E-Flint
3. Lightning
4. Sunny Jim
5. Dirty Dirt
6. Bygalooga
7. Flower
8. Crawly Creepers
9. Growey Joey
10. Sneaky Joe
11. Bernie
12. Goofy Oofy
13. Paja Gus
14. Lala Goopa
15. Chewchy
16. Horton
17. Zanzibar BuckBuck McFate
18. Goofy Gonz
19. Turtle Cakes
20. Zekey Put Put

How to name worm pets?

The red wigglers are now two weeks into their new home, and still they have no names. Seb and his father Doug assured me that they could figure this out. Doug thought as we named each of them, we could band them for later identification recall - hmmmmm?

I took a good look at them last evening - (their moist skin used for gas exchange, rather than breathing) - by reaching deep into their home and gently pulling up a handful of matter. After brushing off most of the decaying leaves, vegetation and other associated organisms, I was left with three of the red worms - who quickly squiggled into a ball.

Worms do not have eyes, but they can sense light, and quickly move away from light, and if exposed to light for too long (estimated to be one hour), they will become paralyzed, or if their skin dries out, the worm will die.

I visit the worms daily. On each visit, I roll out their new home from their darkened space (storage bin), unzip the top of their home, and gently put my hand deep into their home to test the moisture level (moist to touch, but not enough to produce a drip if squeezed). I love the odor - a rich earthy smell without a strong odor of decomposition. I may or may not feed them, and I may or may not mist dry areas, and then cover the top with shredded newspapers to conserve moisture, and assure darkness. I then roll them back to their storage bin.

Red Wiggler Worms - Annelid Phylum, Eisenia Genus

The ringed / segmented worms (also known as annelids) have segmented bodies. Each segment having one or more ringlike external band. They have no limbs, but do have well developed internal organs. There are thousands of different kinds of worms.

Red Wiggler Worms are classified as follows:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Annelid
Class: Oligochaeti
Order: Opisthopara
Family: Lambricihae
Genus: Eisenia

Red wigglers are red in color, and are two to four inches in length. They have a life span of about one year, and reproduce relatively quickly.

Q. What are Red Wiggler Worm (or soft-bodied worm-like animals) origins?

A. Some feel worms or their relatives have lived on earth more than a billion years ago. The annelids appeared during the Cambrian period - or the beginning of the Paleozoic Era, lasting for nearly 53 million years from about 500 million years ago.

Converting waste to wealth

Let the hermaphrodites do the conversion - they meet, eat, procreate, sleep, and excrete in a very efficient manner.

When I think about our waste stream - waste from homes, businesses, manufacturing etc., - much comes from food and paper products, both of which are compostable materials. Worms - slithering workers - can convert these common waste products into nutrient-rich soil fertilizer and reduce the matter otherwise destined for landfills.

Worm pets now a week in their new home (April 21, 2010)

The red wiggler worms (2 lbs) arrived 3:37 pm CDT, April 13, 2010 via FedEx, in a brown box with what looks like dry castings. "Left at front door. Signature Service not requested noted.

The worms are thinner than I expected. I set them up in their new home - The Worm Inn - layering moistened shredded paper (black and white only), cardboard, and my mix that I had been working on for almost two weeks in a 5 gallon bucket. The mix was food scraps (no meats and oils), coffee grounds, straw, well rotted horse manure, shredded paper. I had been tending this mix on the balcony, keeping it moist, and noting that the smell was a sweet earthy fresh odor.

Each day, I visited the worms, opened the zipper on top, enjoyed the earthy odor, put my hands gently into the mix to make sure it was moist, and lifted from the bottom the mix to see how the worms were doing. A flash light would reveal that the worms are active, and fattening up. Because this is in my storage bin in the basement, I have to figure out how to move the Worm Inn easily when I need to find other items in the storage area.

Phase 2 - a Mobile Worm Inn - by attaching to a Folding Grocery Cart. Tonight, I will move the worms to the cart (Mobile Worm Inn), and treat all with some coffee grounds.


There is something elegant about worms - they move gracefully about - eating garbage and giving output of high-priced fertilizer along with non-stop mating. Worm have no ears, eyes, lungs and a small brain - yet they contribute so much.

Basics: vermiculture (worm-based) composting

Reg wiggler worm (Eisena foetida) basics:
- a home (bin, box, bag) with ventilation for air flow, but not large enough for the worms to escape
- soil
- bedding (shredded newspaper, cardboard, wood chips, leaves, straw, peat moss)
- kitchen waste
- worms

A cool, dark environment is ideal - Redworms feed most rapidly at temperatures of 15–25 °C (59-77 °F). They can survive at 10 °C (50 °F). Temperatures above 30 °C (86 °F) may harm them.

Earthworms are also called megadriles (or big worms). Small worms are microdriles.

Eisenia fetida, known under various common names, including redworms, brandling worms, tiger worms and red wiggler worms, are earthworm species well suited for decaying organic material (vegetation, compost, manure) or vermicomposting, rather than being found in the soil.

Naming Your Pets (Worms) while you wait for their arrival ...

Riding the bus home from work last week, I excitedly chatted with Seb (Sebastian) about the Red Wiggler Worms I had ordered. Seb asked if they were going to be pets, and had I named them? I must name them if they are going to be pets, he reminded me. I asked Seb if he would name them for me. He agreed to this task.

Today, Fed Ex advises that they have at their facility my worms. I placed my order for 2 lbs of Red Wiggler on March 25th. I've been creating their home, and reading everything I could find about them. Of great interest is "Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System" by Mary Appelhof ... a fun read and easy to follow.

Jerry Gach, The Worm Dude Proud Manufacturer of The Worm Inn, a vermicomposting bag that breaths - made of fabric with a drawstring opening system at the bottom for harvesting, and a zipper at the top for feeding and tending.

I've also been gathering black and white newspaper, brown paper, and cardboard to shred, and egg cartons for bedding. I had hoped to moisten the bedding to ready for the arrival of the worms, but after the long wait, and several emails back and forth, it was not clear to me when the worms would arrive.

Yikes ... they are scheduled to be delivered by FedEx TODAY!